Germany Sets New Solar Record By Meeting Nearly Half of Country’s Weekend Power Demand

This story from inhabitat has the sustainable energy movement incredibly excited, and rightly so methinks:

Germany fed a whopping 22 gigawatts of solar power per hour into the national grid last weekend, setting a new record by meeting nearly half of the country’s weekend power demand.

After the Fukushima disaster, Japan opted to shut down all of its nuclear power stations and Germany followed suit after considerable public pressure. This seems to have paved the way for greater investment in solar energy projects. The Renewable Energy Industry (IWR) in Muenster announced that Saturday’s solar energy generation met nearly 50 percent of the nation’s midday electricity needs AND was equal to 20 nuclear power stations at full capacity! …

By meeting a third of its electricity needs on a work day and nearly half on Saturday when factories and offices were closed, Germany’s solar power industry has broken all previous records. Speaking to Reuters, Norbert Allnoch, director of the IWR said: ”Never before anywhere has a country produced as much photovoltaic electricity. Germany came close to the 20 gigawatt (GW) mark a few times in recent weeks. But this was the first time we made it over.”…

I installed panels on my house a while ago. As well as making all the energy I need I make about 3-4 thousand a year selling energy back into the grid. System cost me 18 grand, it was just a little overkill. Could have done with a slightly smaller system. Granted that’s a pretty penny to put up front but there is some gratification about once a month when I don’t have to fork over money or else.

Some places you can’t sell energy back you can only put it back for energy credits. If you generate a lot in the summer and not so much in the winter, you can use the credits you accumulate during the peak months to cover the winter months. That’s one way of saving by using a smaller system actually. Still well worth it IMO. I’d recommend looking into it if you can put up the initial coinage.